Candice Cooper Creating something out of nothing makes me complete

Born and raised in Laventille, Candice is a past student of Nelson Street Girl’s RC School and a real daughter of the city of Port-of-Spain. But she holds no water in her mouth, as the expression goes, when it comes to the area she comes from. “A lot of people seemed to think, that I thought, I was better than they were because I have always chosen to better myself. There is a stigma attached to Laventille, but the people have chosen to adopt that stigma into their lifestyle as well.

“I never adopted the lifestyle that a lot of persons there have done. Many residents of the area feel that they are slighted by the rest of the country – because they are always picked on and scorned; they act angry and think that the rest of the country is treated better than they are. What many fail to realize is that it’s all about choices. You make your own choices – you choose to make your own choices!” One such choice is her lifelong dedication to writing. “At seven years of age, I won a prize for writing and had to read my story titled ‘My Summer Vacation’ at City Hall in Port-of-Spain.

Since then, writing has helped me when I was going through any type of life changing issue or challenges – whether heartbreak or painful issues. It was a therapeutic outlet.

When Facebook first started, I would share my poetry there and a lot of people, a lot, would reply and send me messages telling me that they understood what I was going through and that they were going through similar issues. So when I got the opportunity to create my own book this year, I took the opportunity.” Cracks in the Mirror: Poems from the Girl Next Door is a strong, emotional read. Through poetry, it looks at a young woman’s experience from early to late teens – her experience with abandonment whether from her dad or others, looks at sexual abuse and explores what could sometimes still be taboo in our society- a young woman’s experience with sex, love and how she overcame issues surrounding it.

“I was hoping that other people could relate and they could see and feel where I was at. It’s freestyle poetry writing; I write my poetry as if I am speaking in my mind, so everything in my book is exactly how I felt it at the time.” But the story and opportunity would not happen easily.

Candice has just completed a three and a half year’s Pearson BTEC course in Creative Media through a local tertiary education institution. She used what she had learned to assist her in completing her book. But as she wanted to create a book based on her experiences, one of her lecturers thought that it was not a good idea for her final project to be a collection of poetry. In fact, she had innumerable problems with this one lecturer throughout the program as she details, “She didn’t think I deserved to be there and made my stay very difficult. She fought me tooth and nail on this project but she didn’t realize that she couldn’t break me – not with what I went through in life. She actually spurred on my motivation, which made me more determined to complete the program.” A true survivor, never growing up in a home of their own, Candice and her mother moved often and she notes that many times she came under various forms of abuse from those she knew and trusted. “When people tell you ‘why don’t you all get your own house – your mother can’t even afford it’ while my mother would be out working as a single mother to make ends meet, it gets to you.

When people keep telling you you’re no good, it will get to you, eventually. I learned early on that I needed to take care of myself, because even though I was a well-behaved child I would have some of my own family telling me I would turn out to be no good and constantly berating me. But I decided to be the best version of me no matter what people said to me.” That attitude would lead her to self-publish Cracks in the Mirror – a move she encourages any young author to follow. “It wasn’t difficult at all, once you know what you want to write about and set timelines for yourself to achieve it, you can accomplish it. I handled the photography for the cover (she even edited it herself to create the cracked aspect), designed the book, applied and got the ISBN number, handled the mock print and took pre-orders to help with the printing cost.” For printing she went local – Office Authority – something she also encourages due to the support she was able to receive there. “I asked everyone interested to provide me a 50% down payment and then was able to get my prints done, collecting the balance on delivery of the copies I ordered,” she details.

Today, she still writes in the early hours of morning, during lunch breaks or whenever she can, even on her phone. “I’m a very earthy person, I feel connected to our planet so everything in the world around me affects me and motivates me – so I always have something to write about. If you are a writer I also encourage you to never stop reading – reading different types of books will help you to grow and develop as a writer.

Even more important for Candice, is her role as a mother. “Some of my experiences as a young mother contributed to some of the things I wrote about in this book. My son is now sixteen, so I had him when I was just eighteen but then I took time to learn and grow as an individual before having my daughter who is just five. My children are my backbone, I always think about them first and likewise no one loves me like they do.

Everything I do is to leave a legacy for them.

And I work hard to give them more than I had. I remember having just one toy, and can you believe someone stole it!” she asks in disbelief. “I even saw them playing with it after too!” she laughs.

Never one to stay still, Candice is preparing to begin an MBA in Marketing Management January 2017 and also enjoys graphic design and sewing linen and draperies. “I wish I could design for a living – just write and sew and design. I don’t like doing just one thing – it’s too monotonous! She also shows me a couple salads she’s created as something else she loves doing. Candice is the consummate creator – something she acknowledges and sums up for herself, “Creating something out of nothing makes me complete.” And in so doing she makes others equally complete.

Candice also said that her next step is getting her books into the book stores and into the hands of the readers and hopes she can accomplish this in the next few months.

You can order Cracks in the Mirror here: ccinnovation@gmail.com